![File photo of a US drone [Air ForcePhoto / Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/090127-F-7383P-001-e1493323060605.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The United States targeted Daesh in Yemen for the first time yesterday with 12 drone strikes, Reuters reported.
Unmanned aerial vehicles launched 12 drone strikes in Yakla and Al-Abl in southern Al-Bayda province, according to locals.
Over a dozen US drone airstrikes have reportedly targeted suspected Qaeda/ISIS positions in Yakla of al-Baitha,Yemen. Casualties unknown yet
— Shuaib M. Almosawa (@Shuaibalmosawa) October 16, 2017
US Department of Defence released a statement claiming that “dozens” of Daesh members were killed in a strike on two training camps. The camps were used to train new recruits to conduct “terror attacks” using AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, the statement claimed.
Local residents disputed the US statement, making clear that the targeted fighters were deployed to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi armed group.
Drone strikes have increased since US President Donald Trump took office at the start of the year. Since March, new rules were introduced to launch attacks in Yemen without US congressional approval.
Yakla, in southern Yemen, was subject to a US Navy SEAL raid in January, which killed nine children under the age of 13 and injured five. The US has executed 1,238 drone strikes in Yemen, with 300 reported injured since 2002.
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